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Round thirteen has seen a mix of good and bad luck spread amongst the playing Pokémon which isn't really all that different to any other round so far. Though I sincerely doubt anyone is actually reading any of this commentary I'll keep going anyway because I'll feel a lot better posting a proper update as opposed to missing out on a load of commentary just to save some time. If you happen to be persistent, and extremely bored after having come this far through it, and actually see this little comment in amongst the rest of the update, I'll give you a candy for your efforts. Think about how long it's taken you to read all of this, and consider how long it's taken to type it. If you're the first to quote me, with no edit to your post after discovering someone else has seen this, the candy is yours! As round thirteen comes to a close there are still 785 points worth of tickets left in play which means that everyone still has a pretty decent chance of stealing the lead.

OoC – Thanks so much for taking the time to do all this. I can only imagine how long this must have took. You and Stacey have been doing a fantastic job with this campaign; both these Updates are amazing. I hope you guys pace yourselves though, and try not to work too hard. 15 straight hours without a break = bad. Remember to get some rest, okay? =/ (That goes for both of you by the way.)

Originally Posted by enchantress

Final Statslilbluecorsola & Azumarill: (Hit 29 balloons) 300 points

"Congratulations!" Taryn cries as all of the exhausted Pidgey come in to perch on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze then scans across all of the participating trainers and Pokémon. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifts up a small knapsack that had been sitting beside the stage before removing a coin pouch and a small pale blue envelope. Turning to Jess and Kami, Taryn motions for them both to move up onto the stage with their respective Pokémon so that she can hand over their rewards.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card."

After handing over the prizes, Taryn looks adoringly at Rapture before calling both he and Stacey up to the stage. Reaching into her knapsack, Taryn removes another coin pouch as well as a small heart shaped object. Smiling at Stacey, she hands over the prizes.

"For placing second you'll receive five thousand coins and this beautiful Heart Scale. This scale was found in a special area of Seaside City where Luvdisc were once quite commonly found. These days they're very rare to find, so I hope you like it."

Once again congratulating both trainer and Pokémon individually, Taryn then turns toward Arnold and Glalie, motioning for them to come forward while she reaches into her knapsack to remove yet another coin pouch as well as several specially designed custom Pokéballs.

"For placing third, you'll receive these two thousand coins and one specially designed custom Pokéball of your choice. There's one to suit each type of Pokémon, from a Leaf Ball to a Steel Ball. The choice is yours."

After waiting for Arnold to make his choice, Taryn stands with all four winners lined up on stage, smiling at the crowd before reaching into her sack to remove several more coin pouches and a handful of tasty treats before handing them to all of the trainers who took part in the game.

"Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please."

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asks with a cheeky smile. The third Pokéball she's holding is something never before seen in Fizzy Bubbles by any trainer. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn says, handing the ball over. She stops speaking for a moment, waiting for the meaning behind her words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.

Jess and Pip both cheered their hardest as Atzu competed in the game, applauding loudly after each success and offering positive words of encouragement whenever he was faced with disappointment. As Jess had hoped, Atzu closely heeded his trainer’s advice, which helped him win the lead for a major portion of the game. Their excitement and tension grew after each round he managed to stay in first, and by the tenth round Jess had tentatively allowed herself to think they might have a secure shot at winning as long as they weren’t faced with any major setbacks. Though the pressure of maintaining his status had begun to show in the previous round, Jess felt confident that Atzu had the strength to pull through, and she supported him as best she could whilst her own heart beat rapidly with nervousness.

Just as the twelfth round was about to begin, Jess suddenly felt a bizarre sensation, and she turned around to notice what could only be described as a strong pulse of energy shooting straight up into the sky, visible even from afar. The atmosphere surrounding it turned a stunning deep shade of reddish-purple, and Jess felt strangely inspired by it, watching in awe as it spread across the sky towards the festival. A wave of energy seemed to pass through the grounds, causing the earth to tremble threateningly in its wake. The shock passed by as quickly as it came, and the terrain fell still again, however everyone seemed uneasily affected by the mysterious phenomenon. People glanced at each other worriedly, and Jess could sense Pip trying to bury herself in her trainer’s arms, upset and frightened by the ground’s shaking. Jessica squeezed her tight, assuring her that everything was all right now.

Seeking confirmation, Jess glanced at the host, who seemed to be aware she had completely lost the attention of her audience and contestants. She at once laughed the episode off, assertively claiming it to be a festival related event that they'd all missed due to being engrossed in the game. Reassured, most of the people returned their attention to the game, however Pippa’s tight grip on Jess’s arm kept her from readily forgetting the disturbing event. In an attempt to cheer her up, Jess tried to restore Pip’s interest in the game by pointing out that Atzu had just scored a hit, earning him five points. Pip instantly became distracted by the victory and started to cheer, while Jess breathed a sigh of relief.

The game progressed without any more interruptions; however Atzu seemed unconsciously shaken by the event, as he began to lose his lead over the next few rounds. As the final round approached, both he and Rapture were tied for first with 290 points, while Kumori and Glalie were not too far behind with 280 and 270 points respectively. In the next round Atzu managed to hit one red balloon, earning him a final ten points. Alto’s Charizard burst the final red balloons, and the game was over.

Jessica stared at her name at the top of the scoreboard in astonished disbelief. “WE WON!” she cried ecstatically, hugging a fully brightened Pippa in exhilaration. They ran to congratulate Atzu, who beamed proudly despite the fact he had actually tied for first place. It was only a minor detail though, and to them it didn’t really make a difference. Both Jess and Pippa embraced their champion with enthusiasm, causing him to blush again embarrassedly.

"Congratulations!" Taryn exclaimed as all of the exhausted Pidgey descended to perch gladly on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze scanned over all of the participating trainers and Pokémon, who looked either satisfied or disappointed depending on their success. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifted up a small knapsack that had been sitting unnoticed beside the stage. Rummaging inside it, she removed two coin pouches and a pair of identical pale blue envelopes, which she joyfully presented to the first place winners with a smile. Jess accepted the Trading Card Palace Pass and 10,000 coins graciously, thanking Taryn also for hosting such a fun game. She then turned to Kami, who had also received the same prize.

“Congratulations. Your Castform did great,” Jess stated with a friendly smile, and Atzu nodded confirmatively in agreement. They then stepped down from the stage as Taryn continued to hand out prizes. When the proceedings were finished, Taryn turned to face the crowd again with a huge smile on her face. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon,” she reminded, “But don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Jessica turned to Atzu and patted his head, congratulating him again on his accomplishment. “Great job, Zuzu. I’m really proud of you,” she murmured warmly, and Atzu blushed again with pleasure. “The parade’s going to start soon, so what do you guys say we go and watch it?” Jess then asked brightly of both her Pokémon, who responded together excitedly.

“Oh, but first- Do you still have your raffle ticket, Pip?” She looked down at the small penguin, who proudly showed her trainer the ticket, proving that she’d kept it safe. Jessica smiled and nodded in recognition. “Good. Why don’t we stop by the raffle booth first to find out if you’ve won something? Afterwards we’ll go and see the parade. How does that sound?”

Pippa cheerfully consented to this idea, and Atzu nodded as well in agreement. Thus the trio set off back in the direction of the raffle, filled with pride and optimism over their success. Regardless of whether they won again or not, all three of them were looking forward to a day filled with more fun activities and enjoyment, having already completely forgotten the menacing pulse of energy that shook the earth and turned the sky a beautiful violet-red…

"Congratulations!" Taryn cries as all of the exhausted Pidgey come in to perch on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze then scans across all of the participating trainers and Pokémon. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifts up a small knapsack that had been sitting beside the stage before removing a coin pouch and a small pale blue envelope. Turning to Jess and Kami, Taryn motions for them both to move up onto the stage with their respective Pokémon so that she can hand over their rewards.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card."

After handing over the prizes, Taryn looks adoringly at Rapture before calling both he and Stacey up to the stage. Reaching into her knapsack, Taryn removes another coin pouch as well as a small heart shaped object. Smiling at Stacey, she hands over the prizes.

"For placing second you'll receive five thousand coins and this beautiful Heart Scale. This scale was found in a special area of Seaside City where Luvdisc were once quite commonly found. These days they're very rare to find, so I hope you like it."

Once again congratulating both trainer and Pokémon individually, Taryn then turns toward Arnold and Glalie, motioning for them to come forward while she reaches into her knapsack to remove yet another coin pouch as well as several specially designed custom Pokéballs.

"For placing third, you'll receive these two thousand coins and one specially designed custom Pokéball of your choice. There's one to suit each type of Pokémon, from a Leaf Ball to a Steel Ball. The choice is yours."

After waiting for Arnold to make his choice, Taryn stands with all four winners lined up on stage, smiling at the crowd before reaching into her sack to remove several more coin pouches and a handful of tasty treats before handing them to all of the trainers who took part in the game.

"Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please."

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asks with a cheeky smile. The third Pokéball she's holding is something never before seen in Fizzy Bubbles by any trainer. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn says, handing the ball over. She stops speaking for a moment, waiting for the meaning behind her words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.

Rabid Squirrel: Please note that the Hero's Ball will need to be removed from your inventory if you drop out of the campaign before its completion.

(OOC: Thanks for all the effort you put in this, Tess! I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but just to double check, I do have to have an empty slot for the baby Pokémon by the end of the campaign, right?)

Kami looked on as Kumori went into action. He hit a red balloon first, and then in the next round came a big surprise: Kumori took aim and efficiently popped the gold balloon! Through the next rounds Kumori had some ups and downs, but in the end he came out tied for first!

"Cas!" Kumori cried proudly to his trainer as the contest ended.

"Great job, Kumori!" Kami grabbed him up in a great big embrace. Kami then looked over to the other winner, Jess.

"Congratulations!" Taryn yelled to the contestants. Her eyes moved over each of them. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Taryn then bent down and picked up a small knapsack from beside the stage. She then pulled out a pouch of coins and a pale blue envelope. Taryn motioned for the two first place winners and their Pokémon to get up on the stage. Kami and Kumori hopped up on the stage.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card." Taryn told the two of them.

"Thank you," Kami said as took her prizes.

"Congratulations, your Castform did great." Jess told Kami.

"Thank you! Congratulations to you, too!" Kami replied cheerfully.

Kami waited as Taryn handed out prizes to all the other contestants. Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asked. She was holding some strange Pokéball. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn said as she gave Kami the Hero's Ball. Taryn paused, giving a moment for the words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Kami was simply glowing. She was thrilled to receive such an honor. The trainer looked over at her Castform. Without Kumori, she never would have had this pleasure. Grinning, Kami nodded and stepped back.

Taryn turned back to the crowd, and beamed. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Kami and Kumori jumped off the stage and began to walk away. "Great job out there, Kumori!" Kami said to the little Castform. "How 'bout we go get you some cotton candy?" Kumori's face lit up as he eagerly nodded. Kami gave a little laugh as the Pokémon began to dash around her legs in excitement. Soon Kami was holding a thing of cotton candy while the armless Kumori munched on it.

"Oh right, we need to go by the raffle booth to see who won." Kami said as Kumori finished off the sweet pink treat. Kami stood up and brushed off her skirt. After wiping off Kumori's face, the two were off towards the raffle.

OOC: Thanks so much for all your effort! Picking up a yellow shard. Ion grew to level 8!

Ion took off quickly, even sharing first place for a moment. Then, it all just went downhill from there. She took a couple hits from Thundershocks during the race, but oddly enough, her Volt Absorb ability had no effect. From there, she just sort of stumbled along as best she could, before reaching the Raikou statue.

It was about at that time that a magenta wave of energy seemed to rip through the air above. The screens magnemite were holding even fizzled a bit before restoring themselves. It startled the masked trainer, but he quickly turned back so as to not worry the other trainers. He had sensed something was not right about that energy wave...

It must have startled Ion too, as she seemed far to slow too finish well despite her trainer cheering her on. She ended up tying for ninth with a Pachirisu who seemed all too ordinary. Nevertheless, Ion stumbled over to her trainer, happy that the race was over.

"Good Job, Ion. You did your best" Drifter congradulated his angler Pokemon. She sighed in relief, curling up in his arms. They watched as the award for "Most Zapped" was unfortunately handed over to a pokemon called "Zapster". A bit ironic naming, he had to admit. As Billy may told him, he slipped the yellow shard into his pack, and recalled Ion to give her rest.

Now to find out about that energy wave He thought. Billy May didn't seem to notice, but it looks like the other trainers did. I hate to say it, but I'm might need some help on this one. He walked over to who he believed was the most competent trainer, the one with the Pachirisu.

"Good match!" he offered his hand, smiling "Your Pachirisu isn't too bad!" He shook and his face became serious "but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." He motioned to the skylight above "I don't know for sure if you saw that...strange light...but for some reason, I feel I can trust you." He glanced at her squirrel Pokemon. There was still something about it that he couldn't put his finger on.

He continued "When it passed overhead, I felt a strange aura about it. A feeling I've never felt before. Something's wrong, and I'm not sure what, but I intend to find out." He pulled out a map he had obtained of the park and showed it to her. "I'd like you to watch for anything suspicious during the parade. If you find anything..." he pointed to her Pachirisu again "have her send some sort of attack into the air twice. I'll come and assist as quickly as possible."

"Farewell!" and with that, he vanished right before her eyes, appearing again on the roof of the building. From there, he leaped towards Oceanic Drive. He thought he recognized some weird guy who was using a Glalie down below. Maybe, Drifter thought, he was wanted...wanted...DEAD OR ALIVE!!!!!

Nah. He shrugged the feeling off as he reached a building right on the edge of Oceanic Drive. He pulled out a Lure Ball, and opened it in his hand "Trigger, Gun Mode!" he ordered, as the ball warped itself into the form of a red-and-black Pirahna. As it stiffened up, he held on to it's now enlongated pectoral fin, as opened its mouth, ready to fire. It really looked like a pistol. It could fire like one too.

In his other hand, Drifter released his starter Pokemon, Blitz the Heracross. The gutsy pokemon looked for an oponent, and finding none, looked to its trainer. "Scout the area" came the command "Look for anything mysterious or out of the ordinary. If you see something, report it to me." One mock salute later and the bug had soared off through the air to begin watch. Drifter turned his attention back to his own post, and the parade that was to begin.

"Our best bet is to freeze anything dangerous with Icy Wind" he decided. "That way, if its a false alarm, nobody will get hurt. We'd better be pretty dang sure its a threat. It can be hard to tell sometimes." Trigger grunted in agreement, and they waited for the parade to start...

"Congratulations!" Taryn cries as all of the exhausted Pidgey come in to perch on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze then scans across all of the participating trainers and Pokémon. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifts up a small knapsack that had been sitting beside the stage before removing a coin pouch and a small pale blue envelope. Turning to Jess and Kami, Taryn motions for them both to move up onto the stage with their respective Pokémon so that she can hand over their rewards.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card."

After handing over the prizes, Taryn looks adoringly at Rapture before calling both he and Stacey up to the stage. Reaching into her knapsack, Taryn removes another coin pouch as well as a small heart shaped object. Smiling at Stacey, she hands over the prizes.

"For placing second you'll receive five thousand coins and this beautiful Heart Scale. This scale was found in a special area of Seaside City where Luvdisc were once quite commonly found. These days they're very rare to find, so I hope you like it."

Once again congratulating both trainer and Pokémon individually, Taryn then turns toward Arnold and Glalie, motioning for them to come forward while she reaches into her knapsack to remove yet another coin pouch as well as several specially designed custom Pokéballs.

"For placing third, you'll receive these two thousand coins and one specially designed custom Pokéball of your choice. There's one to suit each type of Pokémon, from a Leaf Ball to a Steel Ball. The choice is yours."

After waiting for Arnold to make his choice, Taryn stands with all four winners lined up on stage, smiling at the crowd before reaching into her sack to remove several more coin pouches and a handful of tasty treats before handing them to all of the trainers who took part in the game.

"Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please."

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asks with a cheeky smile. The third Pokéball she's holding is something never before seen in Fizzy Bubbles by any trainer. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn says, handing the ball over. She stops speaking for a moment, waiting for the meaning behind her words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.Tyranidos: 2 levels for Torchic + 1,000 coins & 1 rare candy

OOC: Thanks for all the effort and hard work you put into this (15 straight hours! You need to rest.) This also includes Stacey.

As each round went by, Tyrant watched Phoenix intently. At first, Phoenix was a little too excited as he completely missed the green balloons. And at one point, tears were coming out because of the continued failure. Tyrant at first was a little angry, but could see that Phoenix was really trying. He had experienced the same as Phoenix did. Excitement when a few hits were made, frustrated with repeated misses. But he was also proud that Phoenix was maturing. As he finished, he placed in 6th.

Tyrant picked up Phoenix and perched him on his shoulder. "You did great," Tyrant told him, "6th isn't bad at all for using an attack for the first time."

Taryn then announced the places and prizes for each place. After the 5 places, Tyrant and the other players all got the same prize. "Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please." Taryn said. "Aw, so close to getting our own special prize," Tyrant said, "But, that was a really great effort, Phoenix."

Tyrant then walked around, congratulating the first five people, shaking their hands, etc.

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

"Hey, Phoenix!" Tyrant said, "We could still be winners in the raffle. Oh and you can eat the candy, you won it, so you deserve it." He gave the candy to Phoenix, who munched on it happily. Tyrant then ran over to the raffle ticket drawing.

Jeff cheered his Skitty on wildly with his Buneary as the cat Pokemon raced around the track. The Normal-Type wasn't fast enough however, but at the same time was faster than last. Jeff walked over with Buneary on his shoulder looking around with wide-eyes, taking all the sights in. "You did a nice job, Skitty." Jeff said, smiling at his starter.

"Nrow Nrow!" Skitty meowed back, sitting on his haunces, tail twitching, annoyed at his luck in the race with his small legs getting tired too easily.

"No, you did fine. I'm proud of you." Jeff reassured him, patting Skitty lightly on the head. "But...I wonder what that light was." He mumbled, turning and facing upwards, peering out into the sky. "It was...very strange."

Skitty pawed at his leg, remembering something. Jeff looked down, and Skitty pulled a small slip of paper from somewhere. "Oh, a placing prize? Double Move Tutor pass. Neat." Jeff took the item from Skitty, slipping it into his pocket as he turned back to face the sky again. "Hmm. Well, no use in worrying about it now. I'm sure others are looking into it. Let's go check the raffle." Jeff said, beginning to walk off.

Buneary's eyes remained on the sky, however, his curious little mind working furiously. He had heard Jeff's words, and was now searching the skyline for the cause of the light. Skitty jogged along behind Jeff, happy to have some free time, the first in a long while. The trio skirted around the big crowds, none of them having a liking for 'em.

Buneary's eyes left the sky when it smelt something delicious. An ice cream stand. Jeff smiled as the Buneary went nuts, hopping from his shoulder and towards the stand in a swift movement. It then jumped in place, waving his arms excitedly as it cried "BUNEARY BUNEARY!"

"Alright, alright. Ice cream." Jeff gave in, paying the man and getting two vanilla cones in return. "Enjoy, you little bugger." Jeff shook his head as Buneary immediately began to slurp up the treat. Skitty meowed, also shaking his head, before resuming his walk behind Jeff as the three took off towards the raffle booth.

"Alright, so, we'll check to see if we won the raffle, and then head over towards the parade. Sound good guys?" Buneary and Skitty nodded their consent, and the trio continued their walk.

Last edited by Skrusti; 16th June 2008 at 7:34 AM.

Mostly up-to-date new and improved PASBL League Table. Re-uploaded every Sunday with updated stats.

With the race finished each of you run over to congratulate or console your pokemon and Billy approaches you.

“That was an AMAZING race, right down to the wire. Your pokemon all did so well, you should all be proud of them. I thank you for entering in my little game and now I will present the prizes.” She says leading the 3 winners to a podium. Electrike leaps onto the first place step beaming at Katsu. Houndour takes his place on the second step feeling proud to have finished so well and Inferno stands by his side. Luxray finally takes her place on the lowest step looking at Stark trying to gauge his reaction to their placing.

“Now here are the prizes, Katsu and Kiba get this TM Zap Cannon and a Lightball. Also as a special prize for coming first we award you this replica [Replica Raikou Statue: . Inferno and Houndour are awarded this TM Shockwave and a Magnet and finally Stark and Luxray win this TM Thunder Wave and Thunderstone. For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Inferno – 2 Levels for Houndour

Inferno jumps up and down cheering for Houndour during the race. He knew she'd do well but because she's normally so shy he's surprised that she started ripping up the track from the start of the race. He's happy because he can see that she's competitive and wants to win, so he knows she'll be a good fighter even if she's not as sure as he is. He feels like his heart is going to burst every time Houndour loses the lead and takes it back again, but when it looks like she's going to win she gets shocked by the last electric Pokemon and loses her chance to win. He nearly dies when Houndour crosses the finish line so close to Luxray and watches the replay closely, cheering when he sees Houndour's nose cross the line just before Luxray's.

"You did it!" Inferno yells, running over to meet Houndour and giving her a hug. "If it weren't for that Shinx you would have won Houndour, so don't feel bad because you ran really well!" Houndour barks happily and jumps onto the stage when Billy-May calls her up for her prize. He stands proudly beside her, a bit disappointed that Houndour doesn't get a trophy too, and thanks Billy-May when she gives him a Shockwave TM and a Magnet for coming second. "Thank you" he says, patting Houndour who is the real winner.

When he hears a voice over the loudspeaker announce that the parade is starting in ten minutes, Inferno and Houndour leave the stadium. She's tired after the race but she's excited and doesn't want to rest in her ball. "You need some more energy Houndour. Let's get some food and then we can go to the raffle draw and over to Oceanic Drive to watch the parade."

Houndour barks happily, and they walk into the crowd. Inferno is happy that Houndour came second in the Raikou Race, but he remembers the pulse that happened during the race and that's making him nervous. He hopes it's nothing and wants to forget about it so he looks down at Houndour. "I'll race you to the nearest ice cream booth!" he yells, and starts running into the crowded street. Houndour barks and runs after him.

“Now here are the prizes, Katsu and Kiba get this TM Zap Cannon and a Lightball. Also as a special prize for coming first we award you this replica [Replica Raikou Statue: . Inferno and Houndour are awarded this TM Shockwave and a Magnet and finally Stark and Luxray win this TM Thunder Wave and Thunderstone. For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

“There is one prize I didn’t mention before; it’s an extra special prize. I present the ‘Hardiest Award’, this award is presented to the Pokemon who the judges believe is the hardiest, and by that we mean the one who received the most shocks and just kept on going. We have two contenders for this special prize Ion the Chinchou and Zapster the Electivire. It was a hard choice but we have made one. The winner of the ‘Hardiest Award’ is …

Ion =1, Zapster =2
Arc_Angel rolls 1 2-sided die: 2

Shadow and Zapster! Congratulations you two. Zapster has proved himself to be a very hardy Pokemon and has impressed us all. As part of the Hardiest Award you win this Golden Ticket which can be redeemed at the Connor Charity booth. The prize is well worth it I assure you” she finished with a wink handing over the Golden Ticket to Zapster who accepted it graciously. A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Shadowshocker – 2 Levels for Zapster

Golden Ticket – Shadowshocker the Golden Ticket can be taken to Connor’s Charity Booth before the parade starts and upon its redemption you shall receive a Hero's Ball. This is to be used to house a special Pokemon being brought to Seaside City for you. This Pokemon will be the baby form of one of Connor’s team (not the legendaries) and it will reach the festival by the end of the campaign. If you do not finish the campaign the Pokeball will be removed from your possession.

Having come in next to last, Zapster couldn't help but seem a little sheepish and embarassed as he took his place next to his trainer. "Well, Zapster, you certainly tried your best out there," comforted Shadow. "And you've certainly got something to show for it -- a special, new operative to join our team, who couldn't have made it without your efforts."

"Vire." With a gentle series of encouraging pats on his back, Zapster looked more at ease, handing Shadow the Golden Ticket and Yellow Shard he had received.

"Hmmm, I do wish we had some idea what the Hero's PokeBall might contain, though," Shadow murmured to himself as he briskly made his way to the Charity Booth; surprisingly there had been no concrete clues or available intel on what Pokemon Connor had used besides his personal legendary trio. There was nothing Shadow could do for now regarding that piece of information, as he made his way to the immediate destination amongst the crowds of people, Zapster having kindly helped to gently but firmly forge a path.

"I wonder what that purple light was, though?" wondered Shadow. "It certainly didn't seem anything like conventional fireworks." "Lec, vire." Putting his hands up in honest expression, it was clear that Shadow's Electivire was as clueless as his trainer.

"Well, hopefully it's nothing we need to worry about. But regardless, Zapster, let's just stay on guard so long as we're in the open," Shadow nods. "Let's get our Golden Ticket exchanged, see if we won anything from the raffle, then go over to Oceanic Drive as soon as we can; the parade will be starting soon."

I think you're stark raving mad spending close to 60 hours on one game Tess, but can't deny your devotion to your updates. If you still remember what sleep is, try getting some this week ;). I'd like to thank you and Arc_Angel for the time and effort you're putting into this campaign, and hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

Kim spends most of her time during the game laughing at Gible's antics. His youthful enthusiasm is more exciting than the popping of the balloons, and Kim takes great pleasure in watching him thoroughly enjoy himself. She hadn't thought that missing a balloon would be as exciting as he makes it seem, but she's glad they'd chosen to enter because it's given Gible a rare opportunity to play instead of battle. The game progresses steadily, balloons popping one after another. Gible's pile of blue tickets is growing making Kim wonder where he'd be on the score board if she'd told him to aim for the highest scoring balloons instead of the lowest scoring ones. At the end of the day it doesn't matter, because Gible is having fun and that's all she'd hoped for when they entered.

The game is entering its twelfth round when a strangely unnatural event occurs. Kim sees what can only be described as a pulse of energy shooting into the sky. The ground trembles and the sky changes colour, but it passes almost as soon as it begins. Taryn laughs it off, claiming it to be a festival related event, but Kim can't ignore Absol's reaction which is making her very nervous. He's tense, standing still as a statue, his eyes glued to the distant skyline from where the pulse had originated. Kim ruffles his fur, assuring him there's nothing wrong and encouraging him to support Gible for the remaining rounds of his game.

Many rounds later the game is over, and the winning Pokemon are called to the stage to receive their prizes. A lovely natured girl and her Azumarill have tied for first with another young girl and her Castform, each with a high score of 300 points which far exceeds Gible's score of 185 points. Kim watches the winners beaming proudly, holding Gible in her lap while he watches with wide, excited eyes. When Taryn calls Kim and Gible to the stage with another trainer and his Pokemon to present them with a Cherish Ball for scoring the most hits, Gible's large toothy grin can't be wiped from his face. Gible and Mawile had been the only two Pokemon to hit thirty or more balloons, and Kim squeezes Gible tightly, congratulating him for winning his very own prize.

"Great job, Gible. I'm proud of you, and it's good to see you're having so much fun today," Kim smiles, handing the raffle ticket back to him. "The Hero's Parade is starting soon so we'll go and watch that, but first we need to go and see the results of the raffle."

The three walk away from the balloon deck and make their way back to the raffle booth, but Absol's wariness is disconcerting. The pulse that had shot into the sky earlier and caused a minor tremor is still bothering him, and that's bothering Kim. "I'm sure everything is fine Absol," she says quietly, but she's not as confident in her statement as she'd like to be.

"Congratulations!" Taryn cries as all of the exhausted Pidgey come in to perch on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze then scans across all of the participating trainers and Pokémon. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifts up a small knapsack that had been sitting beside the stage before removing a coin pouch and a small pale blue envelope. Turning to Jess and Kami, Taryn motions for them both to move up onto the stage with their respective Pokémon so that she can hand over their rewards.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card."

After handing over the prizes, Taryn looks adoringly at Rapture before calling both he and Stacey up to the stage. Reaching into her knapsack, Taryn removes another coin pouch as well as a small heart shaped object. Smiling at Stacey, she hands over the prizes.

"For placing second you'll receive five thousand coins and this beautiful Heart Scale. This scale was found in a special area of Seaside City where Luvdisc were once quite commonly found. These days they're very rare to find, so I hope you like it."

Once again congratulating both trainer and Pokémon individually, Taryn then turns toward Arnold and Glalie, motioning for them to come forward while she reaches into her knapsack to remove yet another coin pouch as well as several specially designed custom Pokéballs.

"For placing third, you'll receive these two thousand coins and one specially designed custom Pokéball of your choice. There's one to suit each type of Pokémon, from a Leaf Ball to a Steel Ball. The choice is yours."

After waiting for Arnold to make his choice, Taryn stands with all four winners lined up on stage, smiling at the crowd before reaching into her sack to remove several more coin pouches and a handful of tasty treats before handing them to all of the trainers who took part in the game.

"Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please."

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asks with a cheeky smile. The third Pokéball she's holding is something never before seen in Fizzy Bubbles by any trainer. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn says, handing the ball over. She stops speaking for a moment, waiting for the meaning behind her words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.

Rabid Squirrel: Please note that the Hero's Ball will need to be removed from your inventory if you drop out of the campaign before its completion.

*BIG huggle for Tessa* I know how long you've been through this, I was there ^^ and you did bloody well, i'm proud of you, you met with booty and kicked it hard mwhahaha.

As the rounds of Balloon shooting come and go his smile gets bigger every round as Glalie shows just how good she is and how much of a valid member of the team she is as her accuracy gets the balloons bursting, ok some rounds she does miss but he is still proud of her, and from the look of things Emmy is happy too, after every hit a cute little "Chik" appears from her congratulating Glalie as she hits a balloon. Half way through he notices the weirdly yet cool firework display pulsating through the air, looking down it looks like Emmy noticed it too, "Whatcha think about that Em? I didn't even know a firework display was scheduled for this time, I never heard anything over the tannoy or read anything, was a nice surprise to give the contestants a little boost of confidence," with a little "chick" Emmy nuzzles up to him a little more than she was and continues to watch the game a little less excitedly than usual, "It's alright Emmy, i'm sure it's alright was weird to see noiseless fireworks, but with technology nowadays, I would love nothing more than noiseless Fireworks, bloody annoying when your trying to sleep and they wake you up"

As the game finishes up he walks over to Glalie and congratulates her for a job well done "I' proud of you Glalie, you made me proud, I wonder how well we did, I noticed you hit a good amount of balloons," awaiting the results he watches as Taryn emerges on stage, her giddiness and enthusiasm blaring out to everyone, at least shes adjusted doing her job, i'd be scared crapless on stage in front of so many people, just that second he hers his name in 3rd place, a big woot from him shows how happy he is, "See I knew you'd do me good Glalie, thank you and congratulations." As Taryn approaches him, Emmy and Glalie he smiles at her and thanks her for a entertaining show, looking at the bag he rummages around and smiles happily, "I got the perfect one." Pulling his hand out of the bag he holds out the new Pokeball in front of him, a snow covered ball that shines in the sun, " For helping with the game Glalie, i've chosen this Snow Ball for you, I think you may enjoy it in here, now lets get rid of this old ball, " Diddling about on his Pokedex he uses the transfer ball feature to transfer Glalies data to the Snow ball that she will now occupy, with that he also takes the 2,000 coins and the Double Move Tutor pass that he puts in his pocket for use later on."

As the game finally dies down and everyone has their prizes he notices the one girl who got the Golden Balloon holding a Golden Pokeball, when she was given it Taryn mentioned something of a decedent of the hero Conner's Pokemon, "Alright guys, i'm hungry, and after that and how excited you both were, how abouts we get some food? and check up on that Raffle that we participated in, I wouldn't mind seeing who won the main prize on that, heres hoping we did well." With that he takes out the snow Ball that he just won, points it at Glalie and returns her to the ball until they get to the food and raffle places, Emmy on the other hand still unusually settled in his arms, holding her tight he walks onward wondering what cool events are going to take place after the parade."

As the trainers and Billy-May all watch the race intently their attention is drawn away from their surroundings. Suddenly a pulse of energy shoots up in the distance, ripping through the sky and turning it a pretty magenta colour. The ground shakes from the aftershock and you all look around at each other little concerned, but Billy-May seems to be her usual perky self so you all focus back on the large screen and your Pokemon’s progress cheering your hearts out. It must have been nothing … fireworks or something related to the festival.

With the race finished each of you run over to congratulate or console your pokemon and Billy approaches you.

“That was an AMAZING race, right down to the wire. Your pokemon all did so well, you should all be proud of them. I thank you for entering in my little game and now I will present the prizes.” She says leading the 3 winners to a podium. Electrike leaps onto the first place step beaming at Katsu. Houndour takes his place on the second step feeling proud to have finished so well and Inferno stands by his side. Luxray finally takes her place on the lowest step looking at Stark trying to gauge his reaction to their placing.

“Now here are the prizes, Katsu and Kiba get this TM Zap Cannon and a Lightball. Also as a special prize for coming first we award you this replica [Replica Raikou Statue: . Inferno and Houndour are awarded this TM Shockwave and a Magnet and finally Stark and Luxray win this TM Thunder Wave and Thunderstone. For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

“There is one prize I didn’t mention before; it’s an extra special prize. I present the ‘Hardiest Award’, this award is presented to the Pokemon who the judges believe is the hardiest, and by that we mean the one who received the most shocks and just kept on going. We have two contenders for this special prize Ion the Chinchou and Zapster the Electivire. It was a hard choice but we have made one. The winner of the ‘Hardiest Award’ is …

Shadow and Zapster! Congratulations you two. Zapster has proved himself to be a very hardy Pokemon and has impressed us all. As part of the Hardiest Award you win this Golden Ticket which can be redeemed at the Connor Charity booth. The prize is well worth it I assure you” she finished with a wink handing over the Golden Ticket to Zapster who accepted it graciously. A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Stark – 2 Levels for Luxray

Collecting TM Thundershock and Thunderstone. Also Leveling up Luxray 2 Levels. Thank you Arc for an exciting and enjoyable race. I know that both you and Tess put in a great deal of effort and time to make this happen and I would like to thank you both for what so far has been a great little campaign. I can't wait to see what happens next. After you get some rest that is.

Stark looked up at Luxray standing on the platform. Her eyes locked on his as she tried to gauge his reaction to her performance. The trainer's blank stare soon melted into a sly half smile followed by a wink as he nodded his approval toward his partner. She had run well, considering all of the obstacles in her path and had only been beaten by a nose. Third place was nothing to be ashamed of. Afterall, he had received as a prize one of the many items he had been searching for. A Thunderstone.

The race had begun rather promising with Luxray right out in front. Unfortunately, she seemed to have found a rival in the form of a houndour who wasn't about to let her run away with the race. The way the two of them battled back and forth throughout the race was enough to keep even the most casual race fan at the edge of their seat. In the end it didn't really matter as a small little electrike came out of no where to claim first place. Stark had to smile at the irony. It seemed like only yesterday that he was the young trainer going up against the veterans and pulling out surprising victories. Now he found himself on the other side of the fence. The irony was not lost upon him.

He turned to the Katsu, the young trainer of the electrike and with a smile said, "Great job kid. You've done a great job raising your electrike."

Stark walked forward and collected his prizes from Billy May, giving her a wink as he did so. While he wasn't exactly looking for a girlfriend, he did enjoy some harmless subtle flirting once in a while. Taking his prizes he placed them in his pack and walked over to Luxray who was starting to enjoy the attention she was getting from being up in front of everyone. Stark smiled and knelt down in front the lioness wrapping his arms around her and giving her good solid hug.

"You were great girl," he said as he released her and looked her square in the eyes, "Had it not been for a little bad luck in the beginning with that pikachu you might very well have won. Regardless, I'm proud of you."

Luxray tilted her head down in almost a bow of respect for her trainer, then walked up and put a paw around his shoulder as her way of giving him a hug to show her love. Stark smiled. The two had come a long way since she hatched from his first egg.

Stark soon stood up and rested a hand along Luxray's mane. Looking around he caught the sight of the houndour's trainer. Without a second thought he approached the trainer known as Inferno and said, "Hey! That houdour of yours is something else. Maybe some day you'll give Luxray and I the pleasure of a rematch. Perhaps in a battle or something."

With his words said he listened as the announcement of the parade started boomed over the stadium's speakers. Stark looked down at Luxray and nodded to let her know that it was time to go. Side by side they walked back out into the streets. The balloon game looked to have finished as trainers were making their way off the stage and back into the streets. With streets beginning to crowd, Stark thought for a second about returning Luxray to her pokéball to get some rest, but decided that she deserved to stay out and enjoy some private time with her trainer.

Before long Stark had found Oceanic drive. The sidewalks were filled with people along both sides of the street and more on the way. "Well Luxray, I guess we better grab ourselves a place to sit before there isn't one," he said to his partner. Pushing their way through the crowd they managed to make it to the curb where they sat down next to a group of children. Fortunately, Luxray was well behaved and not mischievous, otherwise those kids would have a heck of a time fighting her off for any candy thrown their way.

Stark looked down the street to observe the many different people standing and sitting around. However, one nagging lingering thought kept creeping into his mind. -What was that light show during the race? Was it part of the festivities or something else completely? Something about it didn't seem right. Well what ever it was, I'll deal with it when the time comes.-

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

ZoraJolteon: 2 levels for Tropius + 1,000 coins & 1 rare candy

Thanking Taryn for organising the contest, Zora claimed the items which he had won, swinging his backpack strap off his left arm and bending round awkwardly to place them inside. Feeling a large shadow fall over him, he turned back round, looking up at the caster. "Meh." Zora grunted to Tropius, who was standing over his trainer, looking somewhat dissapointed with his performance. "It's no great loss. There's always more games to follow, and if we lose those too, then I bet it turns out Connor trained an Altaria." The corners of Tropius' mouth turned up slightly upon hearing this, although he still didn't look entirely ok. "Ah!" Zora exclaimed, in realisation of what was probably troubling his companion. "You've just fired off about sixty Leaf Storms. You must be exhausted."
"Rooo" Tropius said, trying to sound energetic, as he pointed his head behind him, nodding in the direction of his wings, the tips of which were glowing with golden energy.
"Sure, you can do that." Zora said, recognising that while everyone around him might just appreciate the sun for making this an enjoyable day out, for Tropius it was a far more vital supply of nourishment, rapid Photosynthesis occuring in his leaves to compensate for his energy expenditure. "But you do that all the time. Today is fun. Lets find you something extra tasty." Coiling his working hand around Tropius' neck, he dragged him off through the crowds, Tropius struggling to keep himself from knocking any of the fragile Humans over as he waddeled along, incapable of gently breaking himself free. "Right." Zora said, drawing to a halt next to one of the food stands. "I think this is the one that does fruit. Take your pick and I'll see you over there in a minute." gesturing to an area of grass that seemed large enough for Tropius to comfortably lie down. "Now, where is she..."

Sprawled on his back on the grass, Zora felt the sun's warmth flow through him just as he imagined it would for Tropius, the light breeze blowing against him like the draft from Tropius' wings. Wait... it was the draft from Tropius' wings. Regaining his thoughts, Zora sat up, looking at the Pokémon, who had a massive bunch of huge berries hanging from his mouth, which was now a full smile. With that obstruction, it took Zora a couple of moments to notice something odd. "Tropius, you appear to have received a shave." he said, intriged by the absence of his usual beardfruits.
"Toro." Tropius replied, angling his wings to point towards the stand. Zora let out a loud snort of amusement.
"You paid for fruit, using fruit." he laughed, as Tropius kneeled down on the grass, dropping the bunch of berries on the ground in front of him and carefully biting off one of them. Wondering how to pass the time while his Pokémon ate, Zora lifted his hand up in front of him, noticing that the shock wound had turned an unpleasent shade of purple. Seeing the colour reminded him of something that he had placed in the back of his mind while focusing on the game, the strange energy that had flooded the sky. 'Taryn was quick off the mark to pretend it was all planned' he rationalised to himself 'so I guess it's something that they're familiar with, just not intended to happen about now. And if they are familiar with it, then it follows that stopping anything that goes wrong because of it should be fairly simple.' Leaning round into his backpack, which had been serving as a pillow, he rummaged into the endless pit of semi-worthless stuff he had gathered over the years, pulling out a strip of material which he wrapped around the injury, creating something reminiscent of a bandage, although considering the crafter, the medical effect would probably be questionable. Laying back down again, Zora listened to Tropius munching, time passing by.

Suddenly a glint of light hit Zora in the eye. Sitting up so sharply, he startled Tropius, who feeling the presence of something large above his back lashed out in shock, the Bladeed edge of the Leaf hitting against it with a loud clang, before quickly leading into a second attack, waves of green energy flowing upwards from the ground into his body in a techique Zora recognised as calling upon Nature's Power. Getting to his feet, Tropius began clapping his wings together, enthusiastically.
"TORO TORO PI USU! TORO TORO PI USU!" he began chanting, as the shock wore off, and he realised that what he was facing was in fact a large shiny hovering ball of metal, it's pink sheen and wavy ridges identifying it as a Forretress, its shell clamped down tight, presumably in defence against Tropius' prior physical blow. Hearing the chant, the shell opened slightly, the Bug's eyes out of focus as it wobbled to keep it's balance, before tipping to the left, and suddenly falling to the ground, hitting with a soft thump against the soil and rolling slowly across the ground, coming to a halt between Tropius and Zora, who was giggling.
"Ecks dee." he announced, as the Pokémon looked at him, surprised. "I guess that's an interesting new piece of Pokémon research we've documented today. Nature Power, when used in the presence of hundreds of humans and Pokémon celebrating a festival, will generate a Flatter attack." Understanding why he had just performed such an odd action, Tropius seemed happier, but still eyed the Forretress with suspicion, making it Zora's turn to seem confused.
"Roo?" Tropius cooed, inquisitively, rolling the ball slightly with the front tip of his helm.
"Oooh, right!" Zora said. "I forgot you've been in the PC since it happened. Well, you'd be right, this is, well, was, our friend Pineco. I was looking around with her before the games began, but she was struggling to move quickly without the Magnet Rise technique, so I let her go off to find some food. I tried to find her before we sat down, but she wasn't around. Anyway, clearly Magnet Rise isn't a problem anymore." Flipping himself over onto his belly, Zora got down to Forretress' eye level, gently forcing his fingers between her metal plates to prise her open, clicking his fingers in front of her eyes as she snapped back to reality, the Flatter-infused confusion wearing off.
"Forre!" she said, happily, getting her bearings and slowly lifting herself up about ten inches off the ground, looking at her trainer with happiness in her eyes, before spinning round to look at her team-mate.
"Roo" he said with a sheepish grin.
"Tress" she replied, in what was presumably forgivenesss.
"Well, now the reintroductions are done with, we should get moving again. Taryn said something about the raffle tickets being drawn, so we need to try to find that stall again before the parade starts." Getting to his feet, Zora picked up a bunch of stems on the floor, the remnants of Tropius' meal. "You should tidy up your waste" Zora scolded Tropius mockingly, who darted his neck out and grabbed them, lifting his neck up and swallowing them in one gulp. "Well, I guess they contain the nutrients you need for your barkskin?" Zora theoried with a shrug, Tropius nodding in agreement as his trainer climbed onto his back, "Onwards we go!" he announced, Tropius taking to the air as Forretress hovered along underneath, moving freely, but unable to match the altitude Tropius could maintain above the heads of everyone else.

Missingno. Master watched as Qwilfish hopped down from the stage, looking completely exhausted. "You poor thing," said Missingno. Master. "That game took a lot out of you, huh? "Qwil... Fish..." it panted. "I'll take that as a yes, then. Want to go for a swim before the hero festival parade?" Qwilfish perked up instantly, crying out "Qwil! Qwilfish Qwil!" "Heh heh, I thought so. All right, there's a pond somewhere over there, so let's just... Qwilfish!" For at the mention of the pond, Qwilfish leapt out of his trainer's arms and was rolling towards the body of water. Upon reaching it, Qwilfish unhesitatingly dove in, and began swimming laps. MM chuckled at Qwilfish's eagerness to get into the water. Missingno. Master had had Arbok, Weezing, Crobat, Poochyena, and Stunky out of their Poké Balls, watching the competition. Stunky was being given a wide berth by everyone except Missingno. Master and Weezing. After a while, MM said "Alright, everybody, let's go! We're gonna watch the parade!" His Pokémon cheered, and off they went. Missingno. Master was carrying Qwilfish in his arms, careful to position his arms in such a way that Qwilfish's numerous spikes didn't harm him at all. Behind them was Arbok and Weezing. Stunky was riding on Weezing, Poochena riding on Arbok's head. Crobat stood perched on Missingno. Master's shoulder, with a look on its face that plainly said "Go ahead. Mess with us, I dare you." Together, the Poison trainer and his Pokémon headed towards the parade.

For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
SM – 2 Levels for Manectric

"Come on, Manectric, you can do it!" Stephen screams as a plethora of Pokemon, including Manectric, approach the finish line. "Umbreon!" the small dark Pokemon at his side affirms, as the Pokemon cross the finish line. However, it seems as though Manectric simply couldn't recover from that Thundershock in time to regain the time that she lost from the temporary paralysis, as well as the mishap with the Yellow Shard. Stephen watches the Pokemon as the match finishes, and after several more Pokemon cross the finish line, the race ends.

Billy-May calls out over the loudspeaker the winners and their prizes, with the top three sitting atop a podium in front of the group. Stephen applauds politely for them, and Billy-May states that the parade will be starting soon, so it would be wise to move toward Oceanic Drive within the next ten minutes, before leaving the trainers with their Pokemon.

Stephen can't help but notice the difference in pace of Pokemon toward their trainers: the winning Pokemon almost sprint toward their human counterparts, while the others slowly lumber over, their eyes focused on the ground in front of them. Stephen is disheartened to notice Manectric is in the latter category, and Stephen runs over to meet Manectric, with Umbreon running close behind. Manectric looks up at Stephen with doleful eyes, as to apologize for a poor performance, before dropping the Yellow Shard at Stephen's feet.

Manectric looks up at Stephen with a look that clearly meant, "Liar," but nevertheless rises to her feet. "There you go," Stephen says as he picks up the Yellow Shard from the ground, placing it in his bag.

"Now, let's go, guys. I have a feeling that this parade is going to be epic." Umbreon barks excitedly, but Manectric gives only a small, unenthusiastic nod before walking off toward Oceanic Drive behind Stephen, whose mind has drifted back to the race. Not wanting to bring up the subject again in front of Manectric, Stephen silently muses to himself, "What was that light?"[/size]

“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Joshua – 2 Levels for Roxas

It needs to be said. You're both INSANE! We love you for putting in so much effort, but still... Sleep, dammit, sleep!

Joshua knelt down before the somewhat depressed Roxas as the Luxray walked towards him, the Yellow Shard still in his mouth. Stroking the electric type's head, Joshua accepted the Yellow Shard with a smile, his eyes meeting with Roxas'.

"Roxas, don't stress. We've got plenty of other..." Joshua began, but Roxas shook his head, motioning towards his Pokeball. Joshua tilted his head, and in a silent conversation, trainer and Pokemon understood each other. Silently, Joshua recalled Roxas so that the electric type could mope, but was happy knowing that Roxas knew he was proud of his efforts anyway.

Turning his head to the Glaceon who stood beside him, Joshua smiled. "Well, Aurora, if the parade is starting, we'd better go see what's happening. After all, we don't wanna miss a moment of this, now do we?" Aurora tilted her head, amused by her trainer's sudden mood swing, but bounded alongside her trainer as he walked, one hand moving to his pocket to make sure he still had his raffle ticket.

A stray thought came to mind randomly, as he strutted towards the parade route. 'Wonder if Katsu would be willing to trade or sell that Raikou statue?' The thought idly passes by, as Aurora and Joshua seek out somewhere good to stand for the parade.

Catherine eyes looked towards the score bored to find out the final score. Her mouth frowned slightly after noticing that Eevee had finish fifth out the eleven competitors but soon it was gone when she noticed Eevee running straight towards her. The little pokemon happily lunged her self into her trainer’s arm and started to playfully lick at her trainer’s check. This brought up some giggles from Catherine, and to her losing no longer mattered when she had such a great pokemon.

“Fifth out of eleven is not bad, you did a good job up there Eevee,” She told her pokemon with a pat on the head. Eevee nodded and then rested her head against Catherine’s chest. Her trainer could here her heavy breaths and realized the competition had finally tired out the little furball. It had taken twenty rounds but this was the first time she had ever seen her pokemon so tired. It was probably a good thing since so far that energy had only been getting the little pokemon in trouble during the festival.

Watching the game while it was going on was interesting. She remembered how disappointed she felt after the gold balloon was popped and how happy she was at just watching her pokemon compete. She had found herself laughing at her Eevee’s energy and how the little creature let nothing get it down. Despite not wining any result prizes she had loads of fun watching the competition, she was really glad that she had decided to come to this festival.

As her mind raced through all the rounds and the events that occurred something in particular stuck out like a sore thumb. Before one of the rounds she remembered there was a pulse of energy that ran through the air. It was really odd but most people shrugged it off and it was suppose to be one of the other attractions. Eevee had bought into that because all the pokemon had cared about were the pretty colours of the pulses of energy. Catherine had a bit harder time believing into that story although she did forget about the energy as soon as the next round started.

“Remember the energy pulses guys? What do you think of it?” she asked her pokemon wondering what their opinions on it were. Eevee just gave her a puzzled look while Rilou just starred at the ground. The pokemon seemed somewhat bothered with the past event although Catherine was not sure exactly why.

“I am probably just over worrying lets forget about it,” she then declared with a fake laugh. Although it still worried her they were getting no where and the topic created a bit of awkwardness. “I am going to go get are prizes now, you guys stay here and stay out of trouble” she added in while placing Eevee on the ground. She was hopping Eevee would stay out trouble but she probably would because she was tired and Rilou was there to keep her out of harms way. With that thought she headed over to the prize both.

Once she returned to her pokemon she found them both standing where she left them playing some game with a rock. Once they both saw her they greeted her with Eevee running up to her to see what she had won. She looked up at her trainer with eagerness at seeing the prize. Catherine had to chuckle at the little pokemon since it could find a reason to get excited no matter what the situation.

“You won 1,000 coins and a rare candy, and the candy is all yours,” she told her furball while she bended down to her height. She was starting to unwrap the rapper on the candy when Eevee reached forward and snatched it away from her trainer. She started to chew at the wrapped candy but quickly spat it out with a look of disgust. She could not see what was so great about this piece of candy.

“You have to unwrap the candy first silly,” Catherine told her pokemon as she picked up the candy. She carefully unwrapped it before placing it in her hand for Eevee to take. Eevee slowly walked up to it and sniffed it a few times before giving her trainer an unsure look. It did not taste good the first time and she could not see how that would change now.

“Its yummy trust me,” Catherine told her pokemon in an encouraging way. “It will also make you stronger that is how good it is,” she added trying to make the candy sound as good as possible. Deciding to trust her trainer Eevee carefully took it from her hands and started to chew on the candy. After a few seconds of chewing a smile broke out her face and she gobbled down the rest of the candy.
“Eee, Eee, Vee!” she exclaimed wanting to taste more of the treat she had been given. Catherine chuckled slightly at her pokemon’s change of mood and shook her head to tell her that there was no more. Eevee pouted slightly but quickly forgot about the candy and started looking around at all the sights around her. Her mind was always racing looking for new and exciting things.

“Let’s get going guys and no running this time Eevee I have had enough of that,” Catherine told her pokemon. Both of them replied with a swift nod with Eevee slowly beginning to walk towards the crowded streets. She then let out a yap to let her trainer know that she wished to continue to explore the festival. Catherine nodded in approval to her pokemon and started to fallow it through the streets with Riolu by her side.

She then heard a comment about the raffle which she had totally forgotten about before. She reached into her pocket pulling out the ticket, it was folded up several times and slightly crumpled up but that really did not matter. She placed it back in her pocket telling her self that she would remember latter on to check out the ticket booth to see if she had won. For now she was just going to enjoy herself with her two pokemon.

For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Dani – 2 Levels for Togepi

"You did great Togepi!" Dani says when she sweeps Togepi up after he crosses the finish line. "There were heaps of bigger and faster Pokemon racing against you and you came in sixth! That's really good when there were twelve Pokemon in the race. I'm so proud of you!"

"Prii!" Togepi replies, excited, and waving his yellow shard around.

"That's your special prize, Togepi. If you want we can make it into a Thunderstone. Would you like to do that?" Dani asks.

"Prii!" Togepi squeals again, happily.

"Then we will, but first you need to rest. You must be so tired after the race," Dani says, but Togepi shakes his head. He's still excited and doesn't want to miss out on anything so Dani holds him while Ivy and Glacia congratulate him for finishing the race and not giving up when it looked bad for him.

"I'll carry you," Dani says, patting Togepi's head. "You don't need to rest in your Pokeball, but you can relax in my arms and won't have to miss out on anything. The raffle will be drawn soon and the Hero's Parade will be starting just after that so let's go and see who's won so we can see the parade."

While Dani's walking back to the raffle booth Togepi is starting to fall asleep. He's more tired than he thought so she lets him rest, thinking she'll wake him up when the raffle's going to be drawn. Ivy and Glacia are walking next to her, looking at a far away point in the sky and Dani remembers the thing that happened during the race. There was a tremor and the sky changed colour. At first she thought it was an earthquake, but earthquakes don't effect the sky. She doesn't know what is was, but she hopes it doesn't happen again because she got a bad feeling from it.

"Don't worry," she says to Ivy and Glacia. "It was only something we missed from the festival because we were watching Togepi race. It was probably fireworks or something." Ivy and Glacia look at each other and Dani knows they don't think it had anything to do with the festival. Dani doesn't think so either, but she doesn't want her Pokemon to be worried.

"What do you think the raffle prize will be?" she asks them, hoping that good thoughts will help take their minds off the energy pulse.

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.

Mawile looks up at him, relieved that his trainer was so kind to him after their loss. Their names were called as they walk up to the main stage. She told them that even though they didn't win, they hit more balloons than anyone else. Ricco was glad that something good came out of their loss, as was Mawile, who lifts a smile on his sad face. They both receive a Cherish Ball, which Ricco has, but would be honored to keep another in his stash.

"Thank you so much, Taryn!" he said. He goes down to Mawile. "See, buddy? I told you not to feel bad about losing."

Mawile looks up at him and cheers happily. The two walk off with their prizes in hand: a Cherish Ball, 1000 coins and a candy. Mawile was already at level 100, so he accepts the Double Move Tutor Pass that was offered. They walk away from the Balloon game and walk around elsewhere.

"Okay, where to next, Kain?" he asked his trusty Mawile.

Mawile wasn't sure. He remembers something and pokes his pocket, which made Ricco realize something.

"Right, she said the drawing was starting soon!" he said. "We better head down there to see if we won. Then we can just explore some more. Once that's done, we can head over to the Reenactment once it's ready. Sounds good, Mawile?"

"Maw, mawile!" he said.

The two walk off to the raffle booth to see if they won anything good. Hopefully it was something both of them could enjoy with their time here, but they both said to themselves that win or lose, they'll have a fun time here.

With the race finished each of you run over to congratulate or console your pokemon and Billy approaches you.

“That was an AMAZING race, right down to the wire. Your pokemon all did so well, you should all be proud of them. I thank you for entering in my little game and now I will present the prizes.” She says leading the 3 winners to a podium. Electrike leaps onto the first place step beaming at Katsu. Houndour takes his place on the second step feeling proud to have finished so well and Inferno stands by his side. Luxray finally takes her place on the lowest step looking at Stark trying to gauge his reaction to their placing.

For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Enchantress – 2 Levels for Perry

"You did it!" Tess cries, scooping Perry up and spinning her around the moment she races over the finish line.

"Pa-chi!" Perry responds, a little puffed, yet nonetheless excited.

Giving Perry an affection hug, Tess ruffles the fur on her electric squirrel's head. "It's not every day you get to do something as exciting as this, Perry," Tess says, smiling. "I can only hope you've enjoyed yourself even if you didn't come in first."

Perry nods enthusiastically, too out of breath to speak, and Tess hugs her tighter. "You're such a little trooper," she smiles, turning to watch the prizes being awarded to the winners. She's wondering what they should do next, as it would be nice if some of her other Pokémon will be able to take part in a game or two as well, when an unfamiliar voice exclaiming, "Good match!" comes from behind her.

Startled, Tess spins around coming face to face with one of the trainers whose Pokémon had also participated in the race. "Scare me half to death next time," she thinks, her heart still beating rapidly. Luckily she'd been holding Perry, for she still remembers the last time someone had startled her like that and winces, the unpleasantly humiliating memory still haunting her thoughts and causing a flush to appear in her cheeks.

"Your Pachirisu isn't too bad!" he continues, smiling.

"Thank you," Tess replies, politely extending her own hand to shake the hand he's offered. She shoots Tempest a discreet glance, warning the Houndoom to stay back for fear of her attacking the stranger who has approached her trainer. Tempest is watching the exchange between the two with narrowed eyes, the fur on her back rising while she readies herself to pounce at the first sign of trouble. While tempted to say something else, Tess has the distinct impression this trainer has approached her for a reason, so she remains silent, waiting for him to continue, a little curious as to exactly why he'd initiated a conversation.

"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," he adds.

"Here we go," Tess thinks, impressed by the fact he's not beating around the bush. He motions toward the distant skyline, and even before he continues speaking Tess knows what it is he's going to mention for it's also something that has been bothering her.

"I don't know for sure if you saw that...strange light...but for some reason, I feel I can trust you," he says. Tess raises an eyebrow at this last comment, yet her expression remains unreadable while he continues to speak. "When it passed overhead, I felt a strange aura about it. A feeling I've never felt before. Something's wrong, and I'm not sure what, but I intend to find out."

"Hmm, I know what you mean," Tess replies, her gaze turning south in the direction from which the energy pulse had originated. "We all felt it, but I'm not sure how many people saw where it came from. Billy-May insists it was related to the festival, but considering it came from hundreds of miles away I can't say I'm convinced."

Perry snuggles closer into Tess' arms, not at all liking where this conversation is headed. Tess can feel her shivering, not from cold or exhaustion, but from fear, and holds her little squirrel tighter, gently stroking the fur on her head to assure her she's safe and sound. At this point a loud voice booms over the Stadium speakers announcing that the Hero's Parade is beginning shortly and that everyone should make their way over to Oceanic Drive in order to watch the festivities. This prompts the trainer to remove a map of the area and show it to her. She glances at it curiously, wondering where the rest of the conversation is headed.

"I'd like you to watch for anything suspicious during the parade," he continues before pointing at Perry which causes her to lean further into Tess' embrace. "If you find anything... have her send some sort of attack into the air twice. I'll come and assist as quickly as possible."

Amused, Tess bites her bottom lip to suppress a smile, an expression of mock concern entering her eyes while she nods agreeably. "I'll do just that," she replies, looking down at Tempest who is now sitting beside her with a befuddled expression on her face. While she's glancing at Tempest, she hears the trainer's voice again. "Farewell!" he exclaims, and when Tess looks up next, he's gone, vanished into the crowd.

"How odd," she muses regarding the trainer's sudden disappearance. "So dramatic. Does he think he's a superhero or something..."

Shrugging it off, she looks down at Perry. "Don't worry sweetheart, there's nothing to be concerned about," Tess assures her, though she's not certain she trusts in her own words at this point in time. The mysterious trainer who hadn't introduced himself may have been a little strange, but he was right on the mark regarding the strange pulse during the race. It was most definitely unsettling and, even though whatever it was appears to have passed for now, Tess has a strange feeling that it's far from over. She frowns, not wanting anything to spoil this day she's set aside to spend with her Pokémon. She's so tired of all of the ugliness in the world; people hurting others for thrills, even Pokémon battling is a bloodthirsty sport. One Pokémon fighting another until one is knocked out, or worse. It's senseless. This is why she much prefers to adventure. Although she knows there will be elements of battle along the way, adventuring is far more preferable to watching one of her Pokémon being beaten senseless, or having her own Pokémon beat another to a pulp, just so that she can call herself a trainer. It's pointless violence and is a major contributing factor as to her recent loss of interest in training. This festival is the wake up call she's needed to realise there is more to training than battling though, and watching a parade is just what she needs right now. Reaching into her pocket Tess removes the raffle ticket she'd placed there earlier, handing it to Perry.

"Here's your raffle ticket, Perry," she says with a smile, giggling at Perry's eagerness to take it back. "How about we wander over to the raffle booth to watch the draw, and then mosey on over to Oceanic Drive for the parade?"

Perry nods eagerly while Jaffa, Kayla, Vixey, Crystal and Tempest all begin heading over to the raffle booth alongside her. Accompanied by her Pokémon at a festive event, Tess feels that she should be very happy right about now. Unfortunately, thoughts of the pulse from earlier are still in her mind and she knows she's not going to be able to completely relax as long as the concerns she has are plaguing her. She hopes the pulse was nothing, but a sixth sense is telling her it was something, something far more important than Billy-May would have them believe.

With the race finished each of you run over to congratulate or console your pokemon and Billy approaches you.

“That was an AMAZING race, right down to the wire. Your pokemon all did so well, you should all be proud of them. I thank you for entering in my little game and now I will present the prizes.” She says leading the 3 winners to a podium. Electrike leaps onto the first place step beaming at Katsu. Houndour takes his place on the second step feeling proud to have finished so well and Inferno stands by his side. Luxray finally takes her place on the lowest step looking at Stark trying to gauge his reaction to their placing.

“Now here are the prizes, Katsu and Kiba get this TM Zap Cannon and a Lightball. Also as a special prize for coming first we award you this replica [Replica Raikou Statue: . Inferno and Houndour are awarded this TM Shockwave and a Magnet and finally Stark and Luxray win this TM Thunder Wave and Thunderstone. For all those runners up you may keep your Yellow Shards as consolation prizes. Now lets have it for your winners” Billy-May finishes applauding the three on the podium, the trainers joining in.

A loud voice booms over the speakers of the Stadium catching the attention of all the trainers.
“The Parade will be starting shortly, so we encourage everyone to make their way over to Oceanic Drive within the next 10 minutes. I repeat the parade will be starting shortly so please make your way to Oceanic Drive, it’s something you don’t want to miss”
“Okay everyone, congratulations again and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” Billy-May says walking off to leave you alone with your pokemon and prizes.

Upon replying to this update, each of your pokemon will receive:
Rakurai – 2 Levels for Kiba

OoC: Thanks very much, Tess and Arc. I really appreciate all the time you two put into both of your updates.

Collecting TM Zap Cannon, a Light Ball, a replica Raikou statue, and two levels for Kiba.

Katsu was feeling rather dumbfounded as Kiba burst through the finish line. The last thing he would've expected was for the little Electrike to take first place, mostly due to the fact that a number of the competitors were bigger, stronger, and obviously more experienced. Kiba himself had expressed doubt, as well, as the confident smirk he had worn to the starting line quickly faded from his face after he had taken a moment to size up the competition.

After shaking off his surprise, however, the trainer was quick to express his joy, as he picked Kiba up and gave him a big hug, smiling from ear to ear as he did so. "You were amazing!", he exclaimed loudly, to which Kiba responded by smiling in his own unique way, before letting out an enthusiastic bark. "I just hope you didn't push yourself too hard. We still have a long day ahead of us, after all.", Katsu said in continuation, with his companion shaking his head in response, despite the fact that he was breathing heavily.

Afterwards, Kiba eagerly took his place on the podium, seeming very curious about what exactly he had won for his trainer, and was elated when he saw the trophy: a replica of the Raikou statue he had been fascinated with during the race. "Wow! Talk about a big prize. I guess they'll be shipping it over to our base once the festival is finished.", Katsu thought to himself as he applauded Kiba, as well as all the other Pokemon who had done their best.

After collecting his two smaller rewards, Katsu thanked Billy-May, as well as the trainer of the female Luxray, who had congratulated him. He then picked up Kiba once more, feeling that the canine's legs could use a good rest, and started to head out of the stadium, his mind still buzzing with thoughts of everything that had just happened.

Shortly after exiting the stadium, a certain thought he recalled brought him to a stop, and the joyful look on his face was suddenly replaced by a rather glum one. Kiba noticed the change, and stared into Katsu's eyes with concern, prompting a response from him.

"Kiba... During the race... Did you notice that strange pulse in the sky, and the tremors that came with it?" Katsu said. The Electrike paused to think for a moment, then slowly nodded his head, only now putting much thought into the unusual event that had occurred.

"It felt so unnatural... I can't help but think that it's a bad omen.", Katsu continued on, sounding more worried with every sentence. At that point, Kiba, too, had started to look rather glum, and Katsu was feeling a little guilty as a result.

Deciding to change the subject, Katsu perked up a little, and spoke out in a more positive tone: "Well, there's no use in worrying about it too much. After all, there's no telling whether or not whatever caused that pulse of energy is going to do anything else, or if it'll even affect us if it does. How about we go check and see if we've won anything in the lottery? Then we could grab something to eat before we make our way over to Oceanic Drive for the parade!"

Katsu seemed to have succeeded in changing Kiba's mood, for he was looking as cheerful as he had before. Putting his thoughts about the pulse in the back of his mind, he smiled at Kiba before he headed off in the direction of the lottery booth...

"Congratulations!" Taryn cries as all of the exhausted Pidgey come in to perch on the rails surrounding the stage. Her excited gaze then scans across all of the participating trainers and Pokémon. "You've all done exceptionally well in today's game, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for taking part."

Reaching down, Taryn lifts up a small knapsack that had been sitting beside the stage before removing a coin pouch and a small pale blue envelope. Turning to Jess and Kami, Taryn motions for them both to move up onto the stage with their respective Pokémon so that she can hand over their rewards.

"You'll each receive these ten thousand coins and Trading Card Palace Pass. The pass entitles the you to claim one free TCG Booster Pack 4 of your choice from the Trading Card Palace which will contain a guaranteed holographic card."

After handing over the prizes, Taryn looks adoringly at Rapture before calling both he and Stacey up to the stage. Reaching into her knapsack, Taryn removes another coin pouch as well as a small heart shaped object. Smiling at Stacey, she hands over the prizes.

"For placing second you'll receive five thousand coins and this beautiful Heart Scale. This scale was found in a special area of Seaside City where Luvdisc were once quite commonly found. These days they're very rare to find, so I hope you like it."

Once again congratulating both trainer and Pokémon individually, Taryn then turns toward Arnold and Glalie, motioning for them to come forward while she reaches into her knapsack to remove yet another coin pouch as well as several specially designed custom Pokéballs.

"For placing third, you'll receive these two thousand coins and one specially designed custom Pokéball of your choice. There's one to suit each type of Pokémon, from a Leaf Ball to a Steel Ball. The choice is yours."

After waiting for Arnold to make his choice, Taryn stands with all four winners lined up on stage, smiling at the crowd before reaching into her sack to remove several more coin pouches and a handful of tasty treats before handing them to all of the trainers who took part in the game.

"Our runners up will all receive these one thousand coins and one rare candy to do with as you please."

Taryn then removes three more items that appear to be very rare Pokéballs. Looking into the faces of the trainers, her gaze stops when it reaches Ricco and Kain. "Please come forward," she asks with a smile before turning to Kim and Gible. "And if you wouldn't mind coming forward as well." After waiting for them to follow her up onto the stage, Taryn smiles broadly.

"One prize not mentioned at the beginning of the game is the one that is awarded to the Pokémon who have hit the most balloons. Though you may not have received the highest score, you did hit more balloons than anyone else, and for that we feel that you deserve a special prize." Handing both Ricco and Kim a red Pokéball, Taryn continues to explain. "These Cherish Balls work in the same way as a Pokéball, but are extremely rare items to obtain. Please enjoy them, and be sure to enjoy the remainder of your day here at the Hero's Festival."

Turning to all of the trainers lined up on stage, Taryn's eyes stop on Kami.

"I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?" she asks with a cheeky smile. The third Pokéball she's holding is something never before seen in Fizzy Bubbles by any trainer. "For bursting the golden balloon you receive a very special prize. This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Taryn says, handing the ball over. She stops speaking for a moment, waiting for the meaning behind her words to sink in. "That's right, later today you will receive the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team. These babies are very special and will need a trainer who can love and raise them with the same strong values and sense of courage as Connor would have himself instilled in them. At the end of the day your baby Pokémon will be brought into the festival as it needs to be transported from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply hand in your golden ticket at the Charity Booth and the Pokémon will be given to you."

Turning back to the crowd, Taryn beams brightly. "The Hero's Parade will be starting soon, but don't forget to stop by the raffle to see if you're the lucky winner of today's Legendary Raffle. I hope you've all enjoyed yourselves, and please be sure to stop by again later today where we'll have a brand new game set up for you!"

Prize Summary
All Pokémon who participated will gain 2 levels, or if already Lv.100 will receive a Double Move Tutor Pass to be used on them.

Stacey, after Rapture had decided to enter the Balloon Game reached into Taryn's bag and pulled out a number slip, it had the number 1 on it. That meant that they were going first, this could be a good or a bad thing. Stacey looked up to Rapture who showed no signs of nerves; she was just staring at the balloons in awe again causing her trainer to smile. Once everyone had their starting positions they formed an orderly line, well as orderly as possible with the crowds around them and the game began.

"Good Luck Rapture, you'll do great I'm sure." Stacey encouraged her Rotom who sparked in excitement. With encouragement from Taryn she floated forward and took aim at the Golden Balloon first, firing out a wave of green flames that missed it. Not perturbed she fired at an Orange Balloon popping it with ease before doing it again. She brought the two tickets back to her trainer proudly. They had started off really well. As their next turn came around Stacey noted that they were first, but it was early times. Rapture had her go again and fired off her Dragonbreath at the designated balloons unfortunately missing them all. Stacey consoled her and they waited to try again. The next time Rapture hit an orange balloon on her third try bringing back the ticket to her trainer. Stacey had asked her to try for the higher balloons first so it would mean that they would be harder to hit.

As the rounds progressed Rapture would have varying luck. Sometimes her timing would be slightly off meaning she would miss all of the balloons she aimed for but others she was on the mark hitting 1 or two balloons, every time bringing back the tickets proudly to her trainer. As the final round ended Stacey heard the crowd clapping in appreciation. Rapture had tried her very best and counting the points on the scoreboard Stacey could see that they could have placed first if Rapture had hit the last balloons she aimed for. Rapture if sensing her trainer’s thoughts pouted. Catching this facial expression Stacey chuckled shaking her head.

"We came second Rapture, that’s awesome. You did so well in your very first game. I'm proud of you," Stacey said daring to hug her Rotom feeling her hair rise at the electrical currents cascading off Rapture's form. Rapture cried out in joy and nuzzled into her trainers embrace giggling when she saw what the simple motion had done to her hair. Stacey smoothed down her now wild mane and watched as first place were awarded their prizes. She saw Taryn share an adoring look with Rapture and beckon them to the stage. Taking the small step up Stacey graciously accepted their prizes, 5000 coins and a Heart Scale. Rapture ooohed over the pretty shaped object, it was almost as pretty as the balloons they just popped. They stepped off stage as a young man and his Glalie stepped up for their prizes.

As Rapture played with their Heart Scale, making the sunlight shine off it causing it to sparkle prettily Stacey felt her mind rush back to part way through the game. Almost as if she had traveled back in time she felt herself disattach from her body and watched the events as a spectator. She saw the final pokemon finish their attacks and Rapture move to have her next go. Suddenly a pulse of energy shot up into the sky ripping through the air and clouds turning it a pretty magenta colour in its wake. A shockwave seemed to follow and looking down she saw and felt the ground shake as if somehow angered. At the time Stacey hadn't thought too much of it, but sensed that it might be important to review later placing it deep within her mind for access, as she was doing now. Looking up the situation with almost new eyes she looked at Taryn who laughed nervously before resuming the game but a deep fear lurked behind her brown orbs, something was not right. That was no firework, and Taryn knew it.

Feeling Rapture speaking to her Stacey retreated from within her mind snapping back into focus and rubbing her eyes to adjust back to the present. Rapture looked a little worried at the indigo hue her trainer's eyes had taken but held up the Heart Scale proudly. Stacey grinned her eyes now their normal dark blue and nodded. She'd have to thank her Duskull Cadaver later for his meditation practice (or otherworldly meddling as Stacey called it) with her. Although she was concerned about what that pulse meant she felt that she would soon find out and right now wanted to spend some quality time with Rapture.

"Well I've had enough daydreaming" she said laughing almost akin to Taryn in her memory, "How about we go and see how we did in the Raffle and then watch the Parade, hmm?" she asked Rapture who nodded eagerly. Stacey pulled the raffle ticket from her pocket and held it out to her Rotom, it had the number 14 in bright red on the corner. "Think this is a winning number?" Rapture seemed to mull it over before smiling and nodding. "Well then let’s go and find out," Stacey said giggling and walking off in the direction of the Charity Booth, Rapture hovering overhead shining her bright Heart Scale under the sunlight.

'Not all beautiful things are so innocent,' Stacey thought, the pulse etched into her mind.

Firstly, lilblue and Rabid Squirrel receive candy each for spotting my little comment in the previous update, so here you go *tosses one candy to each of you*

And secondly, this update is a little slow in coming so I'm sorry to all involved with this campaign. I take full responsibility for my tardiness. Several incidents involving bad timing with the beginning of this campaign all rolled into one have led to a shocking start, but we'll pick up the pace from here on in. I'm sure most of you won't begrudge me having taken a couple of weeks for myself, so let's get back into this!

As the day moves on with the sun rising higher into the sky, the Hero's Festival is a buzzing hive of activity. Though thousands of people were eager to make the most of the day by getting in nice and early, more and more are arriving as the day progresses. The first rounds of contests and battles are coming to a close while many of the games have also ended, and with the drawing of the raffle about to begin, those who purchased tickets are already on their way back to watch the draw while hoping they'll be lucky enough to win something nice to take away with them when a strange event occurs. A powerful energy pulse shoots into the sky from somewhere in the distance causing the sky to turn the same shade of magenta it had a little while ago. Though the source of the pulse is hundreds of miles away, the earth shattering effects would have you think the epicentre is much closer as the ground starts to shake so violently that many are knocked off their feet. Children start to cry and Pokémon become nervous, sensing that something isn't right here. This doesn't feel like an ordinary earthquake, but within moments, just like last time, the shaking stops, the sky returning to its clear blue state, and the land returning to normal. The voice of Charles Higginbotham can be heard over the loudspeaker calling for calmness as some people in the crowd become hysterical, and several minutes later, after the initial shock of the sudden tremor has passed, the momentary panic felt by most at the festival has died down leaving everyone relieved, if not feeling any better knowing that the danger has passed. The entertainment resumes, and glad to have something to distract them from the frightening prospect of there being something seriously wrong on this day of celebration, people gladly return their attention to the festivities at hand, pushing their concerns to the backs of their minds as best they can.

By the time the raffle begins nobody wants to be reminded of the strange tremors that have shaken the land, and gather round as the barrel containing the tickets is spun before a crowd of hundreds. Even those who haven't purchased a ticket have gathered to watch the draw, curious to see what the prize will be and who will take it away with them. Again, Charles Higginbotham is present, and even though he's trying his best to put on a happy face, something in his demeanour is giving off a distinct vibe of foreboding. He's worried, and just about everyone present can sense it which fills their hearts with dread.

"Welcome, everyone!" he exclaims, a slight tremble in his voice indicating he's not feeling as cheery as he'd like everyone to believe. "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this great and glorious occasion. Today we are honouring the memory of Connor, the greatest man to have ever lived! A man who, eighty years ago, fought to save our land and ensure future generations live a life of freedom! Connor and his Pokémon fought for our continued liberty, and have earned their place in our history books. Today, on the eightieth anniversary of the day they saved our land, someone present here is going to receive one of the rarest gifts Connor has to offer. Being a private man, Connor lived most of his life in seclusion but that never stopped him from giving all he had to the community. He founded many charities and organisations to help people and Pokémon alike, and was always willing to lend a hand whenever he was needed. His Pokémon were raised with love and care, given specialist training, and taught that one doesn't need to be fearless to be brave. They learned how to make intelligent decisions and strategic choices in any given situation should Connor for some reason or another be unable to make those choices for them, and to always watch the backs of their teammates. All of these lessons, and many more, were the reason Connor and his Pokémon were victorious in their battle eighty years ago, and those values were not lost when Connor passed on, but handed down through the generations as his Pokémon bred families of their own. From mother to daughter, from father to son, each aware of the role their kin played in the legendary battle. Today, one lucky person will be the proud owner of a baby Pokémon who is a direct descendant of one of Connor's original team, their specialist training passed down through the bloodline and their strong values already learned. This is an honour few will ever receive, and many have longed for. I hope the trainer who is bestowed with this special gift will raise this Pokémon with the same love and care that Connor will have shown them, and that they will never forget the bravery this baby's grandparent displayed on the day they helped to win our freedom."

Many "oooh's" and "aaaah's" pass through the crowd upon hearing what the prize will be, excited chatter passing from trainer to trainer, while those who hadn't purchased tickets for this draw now wished they had. A few people roll their eyes, sighing, disappointed that the prize isn't something more spectacularly useful, like a super powerful TM, a stack of candies, a safeload of coins, or even a rare bottle of highly sought after shiny spray. Most are thrilled with the prize, however, and eargerly keep their eyes glued to the barrel containing the raffle tickets, hoping their number will match with the one drawn.

"But that's enough talk for now!" Charlie continues, turning to the spinning barrel and bringing it to a stop. Unlatching the lock on the side of the barrel, Charlie reaches inside and draws out a single ticket. Reading the number, he looks up at the crowd with a smile on his face. "And our lucky winner is...."

OnlineHost: Fiery Tess rolled 1 27-sided die: 11 (Jonouchi)

"Number eleven!"

Cheering and applause course through the crowd as Jonouchi takes the stage to collect his prize. Once there, he's presented with a golden Pokéball with star shaped design. "This Hero's Ball was specially designed to commemorate Connor's memory and can only ever be used to house the direct descendant of one of Connor's own Pokémon," Charlie says, handing the ball over. "Later today the non-legendary baby form of one of Connor's own team will be brought into the festival from a secret location known only by Connor's close friends and family. Simply return here, and the Pokémon will be given to you. Of course if you choose not to accept the baby for reasons of your own then you don't have to take it. A secondary prize of ten thousand coins and TM Hyper Beam has been set aside should you prefer to take that. The choice is yours, as either can be collected at the end of the day."

Turning back to the crowd surrounding the stage, Charlie smiles brightly. "The Hero's Parade is about to begin, so please make your way over to Oceanic Drive! Wouldn't want to miss the fun!"

A short while later thousands of people are gathered by the long, winding, roadside of Seaside City's Oceanic Drive as the Hero's Parade begins with a live band marching along the street blaring out their own rendition of the PokéRap. The crowd erupts into cheers, most singing along to the music as floats begin to follow the band, each with a different theme. The first is brightly decorated and covered with an array of different evolutionary stones upon which are several different Eevee evolutions dancing and playing while the Eevee Dance music blasts from a large stereo. Next comes a diamond studded pink float with a large pink banner reading, "The Princess Club - No Boys Allowed" upon which a Jynx, Delcatty, Clefable, Wigglytuff, Lopunny, Glameow, and Kirlia wearing princess costumes and tiaras are all prancing around to the tune of "Dancing Queen" whilst blowing kisses to the crowd. Next comes the "Trust in Us" float upon which Officer Jenny stands surrounded by a dancing array of her various police co-workers including Growlithe, Gastly, Spinarak, Squirtle, Wobbuffet, Jumpluff, Pidgeot, Parasect, Tangela, Meganium, and Stunky. This float is closely followed by another with the "Macho Man" tune playing while Pokémon such as Machamp, Hariyama, Primeape, Medicham, and Breloom pose in various stances while flexing their muscles for the crowd. "Great Balls of Fire" is the next tune to be heard as a fire float appears carrying an array of Fire Pokémon shooting Flamethrowers into the crowd, just above everyone's heads. The Squirtle Squad are following the fiery troupe, however, standing on top of a big red fire truck while dousing the flames with their Water Guns and soaking many bystanders in the process. During the next hour, dozens more floats roll by, each with a different theme, energetic music and wonderful displays entertaining the crowd until finally the "Hero's Float" appears. At the sight of it, the crowd begins cheering louder than ever as the statue of a man surrounded by more statues of various Pokémon including a Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Pidgeot, Alakazam, Machamp, Electivire, Tyranitar, Steelix, Golem, Gengar, Dragonite, Articuno, Raikou, and Heatran rolls past.

The Hero's Float containing life size replicas of Connor and his team is the main attraction, but just as the cheers of the crowd reach their peak another energy beam rips into the sky, far stronger and brighter than before. The sky changes colour and the earth rumbles threateningly, but the beam doesn't shoot straight upward this time, instead arcing through the sky and coming down, headed straight toward Oceanic Drive and the thousands of people gathered there. Excited cheers turn into terrified screams as the beam hits the Hero's Float which explodes into a ball of flames as the energy pulse emitted from the beam surges outward and through the crowd. Pandemonium breaks loose as people and Pokémon are thrown in all directions, some seriously injured, but most more shaken than physically harmed. Parents and children are separated, trainers and their teams scramble through the crowd looking for their lost teammates, those who have found their loved ones are fleeing in droves away from Oceanic Drive while others are trying desperately to shield small, displaced children and Pokémon from being crushed in the panicked stampede.

The next ten minutes are filled with hysteria as people flee the festively decorated city, and when a convoy of army trucks finally arrives the place is practically a ghost town. There are still several dozen men, women, and trainers in the immediate vicinity who are helping those who have been hurt, but most have fled for fear of another attack. Amongst the army convoy are several ambulances, the medics immediately tending to the injured before taking them away to the hospital, while those remaining are left looking around at the damage, and at each other, with expressions of hopeless disbelief. Charles Higginbotham is amongst the men arriving with the convoys, and with a heavy heart steps forward to address those who are still present. An aura of despair surrounds him, and though already an elderly man, Charlie's hopeless demeanour seems to have aged him at least ten years in light of current events. At first he doesn't seem to know what to say, simply standing there while those waiting for him to speak wait expectantly.

"I... I don't know... how this has happened," Charlie begins, lifting his hand to run his fingers nervously through his thinning hair. "But the creature... "

He looks up, his eyes filled with so much despair that everyone feels what seems like a lead weight drop into the pit of their stomachs. His last three words are enough to allow everyone present to know what he is about to say, but not a single person wants to believe it to be true.

"... the creature has woken," Charlie says simply, his arms falling to his sides despairingly. Taking a moment to gather himself, he turns his gaze to those waiting for him to finish. He realises he needs to provide some kind of explanation for what is happening, and grits his teeth, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"The creature Connor defeated eighty years ago has been trapped in slumber. It is now awake and trying to escape its prison which is what those energy pulses were about. A team of men have been monitoring the creature's prison around the clock for eighty years, and until today have not detected so much as a tremor in the energy force surrounding it. Just half an hour ago the first transmission was received from the team stating that there had been a disturbance in the ice. It was sent hours ago, but not received until recently due to the pulse the creature unleashed. Another transmission was received fifteen minutes ago revealing that the creature is fully awake and has almost freed itself of the ice. All radio contact has now been lost because the consecutive pulses have knocked out all of our electrical devices. All planes are grounded as their electronics have been destroyed, and all vessels are stranded at sea with no working instruments to guide them. The only hope we have of surviving the creature's onslaught is to make our way there across the land and sea to stop it before it finally breaks free, because if it escapes before we can reach it..."

Charlie stops speaking, too choked up to continue. Everyone knows exactly where his speech is headed though, and have no wish to hear his final words.

"We only have several small jeeps and five larger transport vehicles that were shielded from he pulses at the time of the attacks that we can use to travel to the Glacier Islands, but most of our troops were injured quite badly during the third earthquake when the base was destroyed. We need volunteers to help those of us left to fight the creature, or we're all doomed."

Charlie then looks at the crowd, his expression pleading, hoping that at least some volunteers will step forward. Three men and a woman step forward immediately, others taking a few moments to digest all they've heard before also volunteering to help.

"Thank you," Charlie responds gratefully. "This is a dangerous mission, and we're not sure how long these vehicles will be of use to us because if another pulse is released we'll have no way of getting to the islands other than by foot. We need to leave as quickly as possible if we have any hope of reaching the creature before it escapes."

Within minutes, thirty six volunteers have stepped forward. Men, women, teenagers, all have the same goal, and that is to protect their land. They're immediately ushered into three of the transport vehicles which drive away at high speed, leaving only two behind along with another two dozen trainers who have quite a life changing decision to make...

Missingno. Master stood there, not moving (except for blinking) in astonishment as to what he just heard. A highly dangerous legendary Pokemon was attempting to escape captivity? He turned and glanced at his Pokémon; Weezing's faces registered complete shock; Arbok's mouth was comically agape; Crobat had passed out; Poochyena was sitting down, yapping inquisitively; Stunky had a stunned look on its face, and judging by a growing smell, it was not bothering to stem the flow of its stink; Qwilfish actually looked unperturbed. After a moment, Missingno. Master regained his composure and spoke up. "Well, guys, you all heard the man. Now, I for one am all for trying to stop this beast, but only if you guys are up for it." There was silence for a moment, then... Qwilfish leapt up into his trainer's outstretched hand and cried out "Qwilfish Qwil!" "Weezing! Weez!" belched Weezing, as it floated over and hovered over his trainer's shoulder. "Chaaa!" hissed Arbok as she slithered over and stood beside Weezing. Crobat regained consciousness, and flapped up and perched on Missingno. Master's other shoulder. Poochyena yapped excitedly and began running circles around his trainer. Stunky stood next to her trainer with defiance in her eyes, and gave a majestic fart. "So does this mean you guys want to do it?" The Pokémon all chattered in agreement. "All righty, then," said Missingno. Master, "Let's do this!" And followed by his faithful Pokemon, Missingno. Master stepped forward and volunteered to help.

And secondly, this update is a little slow in coming so I'm sorry to all involved with this campaign. I take full responsibility for my tardiness. Several incidents involving bad timing with the beginning of this campaign all rolled into one have led to a shocking start, but we'll pick up the pace from here on in. I'm sure most of you won't begrudge me having taken a couple of weeks for myself, so let's get back into this!

OOC:Meh, I can wait. This is worth waiting for. Thanks again!

BIC: Drifter watched from the rooftop, keeping a close eye out for anything suspicious. The festival just seemed to continue on as normal. Maybe that was a one-time thing... he thought something to please the crowds...

As the raffle began, he was soon proved wrong, as yet another magenta beam shot over the sky. That aura was closer this time.... he thought. The nervous feeling set in again while they gave the raffle prize to another trainer.

It seemed fine from there. The parade started without a hitch. And then, as soon as the Hero's float appeared, disaster struck. The magenta beam flew across the sky once more, but this time, it curved. The beam, now exuding an aura so powerful, he had to stop sensing it, arced down out of the sky and struck the hero's float dead-on. The resulting blast causes all hell to break loose as people and Pokemon alike go nuts in fear. Our masked hero swings into action, as he and his Pokemon work togther to calm the crowd and put out the flames.

***

Finallly, after some time, the crowd has been calmed. Charlie steps up, seeming to have aged 10 years in the last few hectic moments. He says four words that send a chill through Drifter's spine: "The creature has awoken".

He calls for volennteers, and without another thought, Drifter steps forward. If I don't, more people could get hurt, and even worse than last time he thought or it could even be as bad as what happened to the academy...
He opened up his pokeballs to release his allies, and all of them stood at the ready to recieve directions.

Last edited by The Black Glove; 8th July 2008 at 10:40 PM.

Originally Posted by Cave Johnson

When life gives you lemons, make life take the lemons back! I don't want your d*** lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to build me a combustible lemon to BURN LIFE'S HOUSE DOWN!

After the emotional Balloon Popping game, Tyrant and Phoenix (who is now a Combusken as of this post) ran over to where the drawing was being held. There were a lot of people, so Tyrant looked wearily at Phoenix, wanting to put him in his Pokeball. But he saw how Phoenix gazed upon everything, he really wanted to see all of this. So Tyrant just pushed Phoenix closer to him, feeling more comfortable. Suddenly, Tyrant saw a bright light off in the distance. A few seconds after that, the earth began to tremble. There was chaos everywhere. Tyrant quickly took out Phoenix's Pokeball and put him in for the time being. He ran away from the center of the crowd, towards the outer edge so then he wouldn't be pushed around that much. After the commotion ceased, everyone calmed down. "...That was really weird." Tyrant said aloud. He hoped it was a one time thing and then released Phoenix out again.

Finally after that, the mayor spun the barrel and picked out a number. "Please be us. Please be us." said Tyrant in his head. He really wanted to win, especially to help make Phoenix feel better about himself. "Number eleven!" shouted the mayor. Immediately after that, the crowd went into an uproar, Tyrant a little sad. Phoenix seemed indifferent, however he might have been upset in his mind. "That's ok Phoenix," Tyrant said, "You did your best at the Balloon Popping game. There is going to be an awesome festival too! We're never at a loss here!" Tyrant attempted to make Phoenix feel a little better. Tyrant patted Phoenix on the back and walked to where the parade was being held.

At once, several floats were driving along the road, really cool ones at that. The band sang the PokeRap, Tyrant singing along to the parts he knew. Then came the Eevee Dance, which Phoenix really enjoyed seeing. Tyrant looked down to him and smiled, he was feeling a whole lot better now. Next the "No Boys Allowed" float, which Tyrant just chuckled at. After that Officer Jenny came with the Pokemon she uses. Tyrant clapped aloud at this one, he knew how hard she worked to keep crime low. Macho Man came next, to which Tyrant chuckled at again. After that was the Fire Pokemon float with Flamethrowers being launched in the air. Tyrant could tell that Phoenix wanted to join the fun. To douse out the flame, the Squirtle Squad was next firing Water Guns around. Tyrant stepped out in front of Phoenix, in fear he might get hit by too much water. The main attraction rolled along with the Hero's Float, complete with his team and a statue of the hero himself, Connor.

With all of this excitement and joy came disaster. Tyrant saw the bright light once again and immediately put Phoenix back in his Pokeball. The earth shook once more, this time it was larger in magnitude. Tyrant ran away from the floats, they could easily fall over and land on him, or other people. He could see that the majority were doing the same. Suddenly the bright of light was so close, Tyrant could make out it's beam-like appearance, headed straight for the sky. However, it made an arc instead and landed right on the Hero's Float, causing more destruction and wreaking more havoc.

After the second disaster of the day, the mayor stood up with everyone to listen to him. "I... I don't know... how this has happened," Charlie begins to say. Tyrant looks at him worryingly, hoping that the dreadful words don't leave his lips. "... the creature has woken," Charlie finishes. The dreadful words did indeed leave his lips to be heard by the entire crowd. Charlie explained about the creature and how to get their. With that, 3 or 4 trainers stepped out to volunteer. Tyrant released Phoenix out of his Pokeball and asked him "What do you think we should do?" Phoenix pointed at the volunteers and let out a loud chirp. "Good, because I did not want to be the only one to think that." Tyrant replied. They both ran over to Charlie. "We'll help you, mayor," Tyrant said, "We would do anything to save, possibly the world, from this creature." And with that, Tyrant sent out Pyro, both Shuppets, and Hippy. "We're prepared for anything." Tyrant finished.

Stacey and Rapture made their way through the crowded streets, trying to find their way to Oceanic Drive to watch the parade and the drawing of the raffle. As the walked along trying their hardest not to be hit or trodden on by a passerby Rapture suddenly looked up in awe, Stacey’s gaze following hers. A bright beam tore through the sky and again the sky turned a beautiful but unnatural magenta. Stacey frowned at the sight before gasping as the ground suddenly came alive, shaking for all it was worth nearly knocking the young woman off her feet including those around her who were less fortunate in the balance department. Mere moments later the shaking stopped and the sky returned to its normal light blue colour and the confused masses were trying to calm frazzled nerves, the warm voice of Charles Higginbotham helping tremendously.

It didn’t take long for everyone to resume the day’s activities and festivities and forget the unusual event. Stacey’s eyes darkened, she had never experienced an earthquake before but she was damn sure they weren’t preceded by a pink sky. Rapture looked down at her trainer worriedly, the occurrence having unnerved her a little but eager to carry on with some fun. Stacey heard the Charles Higginbotham take the microphone once again signifying that the raffle was about to start the young woman forced a smile at her Rotom and moved closer to the draw. He gave a warming, heartfelt speech beforehand, excellently executed despite the obvious tremble in his voice that didn’t go unnoticed by Stacey and some others gathered. Stacey brightened a little at the mention of the prize which sounded very intriguing, a new pokemon directly descended from Connor’s team; it was sure to be a strong and honorable indeed. Stacey procured her ticket from her pocket and flashed the number at Rapture, 14. Let’s see if it was lucky for them. Charles spun the barrel before pulling a ticket from within … number 11 had won. Stacey sighed and saw Rapture pout in disappointment.

“Never mind Rapture, our number was very close…” Stacey said as if it was some form of consolation. Rapture seemed to brighten however and they applauded the winner. Charles beaming heartily to the crowd announced that the parade would begin soon. Stacey and Rapture maneuvered their way through the masses to stand as close to the action as they could, Rapture sparking with excitement. Shortly after they had found a suitable viewing spot the parade commenced. First along came a brightly decorated float with several eeveelutions dancing cutely, Rapture was in awe at the new pokemon she saw before she decided to try to imitate the dance, sparking in time. Stacey laughed happily at her Pokemon’s antics and focused on the next float, one that announced that it was “The Princess Club – no boys allowed” … Syn surely would have loved that float. Officer Jenny followed along on the next float and Stacey was ecstatic to see a Gastly floating by her side, any chance to see Ghost Pokemon always perked her up. The next floated harbored fighting pokemon looking buff and strutting their stuff making Stacey her lip in amusement at the poses. A float of fire pokemon followed firing their flamethrowers into the air followed shortly by the Squirtle Squad who sprayed the errant fires with the water guns.

So many floats went by that Stacey had lost count but Rapture was indeed enraptured by all the new pokemon she was seeing, and her enjoyment made Stacey momentarily forget about previous events. The very last float to pass by them was the Hero’s Float and on that was a magnificent statue of Connor and statues of his pokemon. The crowd grew into a loud cheer and Stacey joined in before she saw another beam of energy tear through the sky again, the sky turning an even more sickening magenta colour. The ground shook with renewed vigor this time knocking Stacey to her knees, her hands gripping the ground hard to try and keep some semblance of balance. She could hear Rapture yelling in fear for her trainer and herself above the screams of the people around her. Stacey just about managed to look up in time to see the beam arc back down towards the ground. Her eyes grew wide with shock as it struck the Hero’s float obliterating it immediately. The shockwave pulsed outwards and she grunted as she was thrown backwards into the wall of the building behind her another spectator landing on her left arm making her cry out in pain.

The screams grew louder and trainers, mothers, children and pokemon alike stampeded in a frenzy crushing a few unfortunate people already on the ground. Stacey with a great effort shoved the poor soul from on top of her with little grace and concern for their wellbeing and stood up leaning against the wall trying to keep out of the stampede. She clutched her left arm to her chest and called out for Rapture, screaming her lungs out over the hysterical noises filling the street. She had no doubt that the trampling trainers wouldn’t harm her but the pulse may have done and she just wanted to know that she was safe. As if sensing her thoughts Rapture floated rapidly through the crowd accidentally shocking a few people along the way who were too scared to notice and barreled into her trainer who hugged her fiercely. She felt the electricity prickly her skin and the static ruffle her hair but she didn’t care, Rapture was safe and unharmed.

It didn’t take long for the masses to flee the City only to be replaced by a convoy of army vehicles and ambulances, the medics immediately tending to the more seriously injured. There are few people left observing the damage in disbelief whilst Stacey merely looked annoyed. Charles stepped forward, having remained with the few people either brave or stupid enough to remain or those who were too hurt to move. He looked at the wreckage with tearful eyes and despite wracking his body.

He took a moment to address the remaining few but what he said sent shivers down Stacey’s spine. It wasn’t what he said, but how he said it. “The creature had awoken”, something in those words made Stacey’s stomach turn and her heart beat a little faster before she managed to quell the oncoming hysteria that the thousands of others before her had shown. He explained that the creature was entrapped in ice all those years ago but had now freed itself from its prison, the attack on the float making that all too obvious. Now they needed to stop this creature before it wreaked havoc on the rest of Fizzytopia. He explained that they were short on vehicles to follow the creature; its pulse had messed with all electronics equipment. They had a few simpler vehicles that could transport them where they would be needed, a couple of jeeps and convoys and as they were lacking in man power due to injuries from the third earthquake he wanted as many volunteers for what was obviously going to be a deadly and dangerous mission.

The few gathered looked at one another before a few of them stepped forward, brave or foolish … possibly both Stacey surmised as a few more joined them. Soon several people had gathered in the convoys that sped off as soon as they could leaving only 2 more to fill. Three boys near to her all volunteered themselves and their pokemon, some a little too eagerly Stacey thought, leaving the rest with their thoughts, Charles looking on expectantly.

‘Just typical,’ Stacey thought, ‘I come out for a day of fun with Rapture, to show her the joys of this world and we’re brought straight into the horrors that riddle this planet.’ She thought a little bitterly to herself that this kind of mayhem and death seemed to follow her wherever she went and she began to wonder if she invited it. Maybe that was it; maybe there was something in her soul, something dark something horrid that drew all dark things to her. Her mind wandered into dark and miserable memories making the young woman withdraw into herself before she felt Rapture yell at her and nudge her, the sparks spidering down her skin. She looked apologetically at her Rotom and looked over at the expectant Charles. How sweet it was to believe that everyone had the charity and goodness in their hearts to volunteer so easily, willing to risk their lives and the lives of their pokemon to ‘save the world’. Stacey could easily see that this was a fools mission, whatever had attacked the float and the parade itself was obviously a very strong creature indeed, how were 5 conveys of hapless trainers, young kids teenagers, small and weak with a smattering of powerful pokemon meant to take on something that had nearly destroyed the world last time?

Stacey flexed her injured wrist feeling spikes of pain run up her arm at the movement, ‘must be twisted’ she thought with a sigh looking up to a concerned Rapture. Rapture gave her an imploring look, one she had seen so many times from most of her pokemon, the kind and big hearted look of a ‘helper’. Rapture was quickly becoming a pokemon that wanted to bring good to this new world and would with what strength she had given all the help she could. Stacey smiled at her, she adored pokemon for showing such a strong and wonderful trait and wished she was alike, but she was far too cynical and wise to the world to keep an open heart and open mind.

Unable to meet her pokemon in the eye any longer Stacey looked away with doubt lacing her thoughts and body language. She crossed her injured arm over her right and tried to look inconspicuous but Rapture was having none of it, how could her trainer be so cold hearted to have not offered help straight away. She floated around to face her and gave her a cold glare that startled the young woman. She looked a little ashamed, she should be making a good impression in front of someone so young; this could taint their relationship forever but she knew she was right, she could felt it deep down inside her heart, and this was a foolhardy mission.

Feeling the pressure overwhelm her, almost choke the breath from her lungs Stacey smiled sadly, going against her gut instinct and her selfishness and digging deep into the goodness within her looked up at Rapture and nodded her head making Rapture beam with joy. Stacey walked over to one of the convoys and leant against the side.

“I’ll lend you our assistance” she said hating the tone of importance in her voice but she felt that her life and the lives of her pokemon were important. Rapture missed this too happy to have ‘won’ over her trainer, she knew that was a kind and generous person deep down, she knew it. Stacey smiled at her innocent young pokemon as a medic checked her wrist.

‘I wonder how this’ll end?’ she thought with hope lacing every word staring at the remaining masses, wondering if they were thinking as she was.